March's best wildlands photos

Great Horned Owl in southwest Louisiana, Mermentau River Basin. Scroll down the page for the story behind this photo.

Dennis Demcheck

From amazing sunsets, to candid wildlife shots, our nation's public lands provided some fantastic material for wilderness photographers in March.

Here are some of our favorite photos, shared through the social media channels of our nation's public land agencies and outdoor conservation groups. These nature photos serve as a good reminder of what we can preserve when we choose to protect our wildlands. From the grandeur of our national parks to the wildlife that thrive in our refuges, there is so much worth saving!

According to Rocky Mountain National Park's Facebook page, in the first weeks of April, "the lavender colored petals of the Pasque flower will begin brightening up the park's meadows as a sure sign of spring. Look for them in the park along south-facing slopes and in the lower meadows of the park." Photo from Rocky Mountain National Park via National Parks Traveler.

Two bald eagles perched at Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park, via Facebook, Kenai Fjords National Park. In March, the park looked back on the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. According to the park, oil reached the shores of Kenai Fjords National Park two weeks after the spill in Prince William Sound. Approximately 20 miles of the park's coastline was oiled.

According to the Interior Department's Facebook page, Dennis Demcheck a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) employee, snapped this photo of a female Great Horned Owl nesting in a Live Oak tree. "She was 'staring me down' because she had eggs to protect." Demcheck said. The photo was taken in southwest Louisiana in the Mermentau River Basin near the town of Thornwell.